The new capacity of 17,000 ranks the Canadian Tire Centre third-lowest among NHL arenas in total capacity.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The Sens will get made fun of for this move, but in actuality, they’ve made a smart forward-thinking move.

They’re a small market with an arena in an inconvenient location. Their arena should reflect that.

Having a full arena is massively important for not only the image of a team, but for the atmosphere in it. Lowering the capacity will help boost the demand for tickets, meaning the team should be able to charge more per seat.